*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***

Inspired by this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0307474259/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've lost about 7lb in the last week. I've pretty much eaten whatever I liked with as much as I like with the exception of simple carbs and alcohol. Those are must-eliminates. So no pasta, potato, juices, milk (other than in tea and coffee), bread etc. I've even lots of meat, fish, eggs, nuts and veg/salad. Drinking a LOT of water - 3litres per day.
Really working for me at the moment and I'm not finding it that hard.

I was 17st10lb and now 17st3lb. I want to get down to 14st4lb. I am 6feet1 and quite muscular.
 
tbyeah said:
I'm trying to lose weight for the first time ever, down from 115.4kg to 112.6kg in just under a week :)

I know it's mostly water weight and the heat right now, but feels great to see a lower number on the scale
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Down to 109.8 this morning, feeling good :)
 
Haven't weighed myself in a while as I know it will be bad news. Did first exercise class today since lockdown and I am so unfit it's crazy. I haven't ever been so unfit since before secondary school probably. It's nuts. I'll have to get a rural paper round again.

When it aches the same day you know you're in for a sore couple of days
 
kirkster said:
Inspired by this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0307474259/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've lost about 7lb in the last week. I've pretty much eaten whatever I liked with as much as I like with the exception of simple carbs and alcohol. Those are must-eliminates. So no pasta, potato, juices, milk (other than in tea and coffee), bread etc. I've even lots of meat, fish, eggs, nuts and veg/salad.
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I've got a copy of that book sitting on my shelf but never read it. I guess from your description it's all about reducing carb intake and getting into ketosis? I used the http://www.dietdoctor.com website.
 
Weight pretty stable during this diet break. Thought I might get a slight rebound due to increased food/water in food/food in gut, so might do one more week with a slightly higher intake just to make sure everything's reset. Then it's back into a deficit mode again and poverty 200 carb / 800 calories from carbs life.
 
Had a shock today when I came to put on some jeans that fit me reasonably comfortably last year. Now they are in that hybrid zone of being a bit too tight to be totally comfortable but can still do the button up.

I've been stuck at the same weight all year (80kg-ish) which is good in that I've maintained but I've still got a belly I can grip and hold with two hands (24% body fat!). I think I'm going to need to get to 70kg or try and get motivated to do weights at least.
 
ic1male said:
I've got a copy of that book sitting on my shelf but never read it. I guess from your description it's all about reducing carb intake and getting into ketosis? I used the http://www.dietdoctor.com website.
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Precisely, in a nut shell this is what the book is about. Elimination - or as close to that as possible - of as many simple carbs as possible. All simple carbs promote a huge insulin rush and this shuttles the calories of all food into fat cells. To get your body burning its fat away you must stop these extreme spikes of insulin that keep occurring all day long in the typical carb loaded western diet. As an aside, all these simple carbs are also loaded with calories. So it is a dual pronged attack. Steer clear of those and your body weight will plummet rapidly. I have done this program before and I dropped 4 stone in less than three months. I had some serious personal circumstances that set me back but I am back onto it now.

Despite going out last night and eating plate fulls of meat, salmon, olives, cheese and veg - no alcohol or simple carbs - I lost another lb. My appetite is legendary amongst family and friends!

You can eat as much as you want, as often as you want - obviously within reason - of anything that isn't a simple carb. No alcohol, candy, bread (any type), any wheat based breakfast cereals, flour or anything made from flour, pasta, rice (any type), potatoes, fruit, juice, milk. Other than the fruit, none of those in that list is what we'd have eaten as hunter gatherers in anything other than minute amounts.

Never buy "low fat" version of anything. Low fat means it's been tinkered with and had all sorts of insulin inducing chemical sh*** added to it. Eat the normal version.

Once you get going and are in the groove this plan is easy. You have to really, really want to drop your weight for the right reasons to tolerate giving up bread and beer for instance for a few months. But other than that, it is easy to do. Today, for instance, I am going to have roast beef, pork, gravy, crackling and a ton of veg. No potatoes!

Obviously, I would not want to live the rest of my life like this since I love bread and beer! So my plan when I get to target is never to drift more than 5lb of that target, also discussed in the book. If I do find myself above it then immediately back on this plan for a couple of days. I fully accept that this could involve a lot of on and off the plan. That is fine with me.

I am not being smug or suggesting I have all the answers. Just making you guys aware of an approach that may work for you.
 
You've even said yourself you don't want to live like that for the rest of your life so why live like that at all?

Use the time spent ploughing on with a diet you know you won't stick with to build a healthy relationship with a balanced diet and sensible portions.

All you'll do jumping in and out of it for a few days every now and again is drop water and glycogen to make you feel better about the number on the scales.

I know this will just come across as a bit of a **** post but I've been there got the t-shirt when it comes to ways of trying to get my weight down in some great new way and it's never a long term fix.
 
No further weight lost over the past two weeks but, consistent with the gym so not too concerned.

I’ve realised how much I love actually lifting weights and my VO2 max has grew faster than it ever has.
 
tom_e said:
You've even said yourself you don't want to live like that for the rest of your life so why live like that at all?

Use the time spent ploughing on with a diet you know you won't stick with to build a healthy relationship with a balanced diet and sensible portions.
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Personally, I agree with this. The list of things you can't eat is too long for my liking...
 
tom_e said:
You've even said yourself you don't want to live like that for the rest of your life so why live like that at all?

Use the time spent ploughing on with a diet you know you won't stick with to build a healthy relationship with a balanced diet and sensible portions.

All you'll do jumping in and out of it for a few days every now and again is drop water and glycogen to make you feel better about the number on the scales.

I know this will just come across as a bit of a **** post but I've been there got the t-shirt when it comes to ways of trying to get my weight down in some great new way and it's never a long term fix.
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Agree on all points Tom and no, it is not a long-term fix. I appreciate your view so I don't construe what you post as a xxxx post at all. But it is still a good way to drop weight in a reasonable time scale as I know from experience. I concede it is not sustainable, as I mentioned (and you acknowledged) and simple carbs are a pleasure of life. However, moderation of the amount of those carbs will be the name of the game for me after I have shifted this 3-4 stone.

I need to lose this weight since it is disrupting my sleep with mild sleep apnea and my fiancee says I am snoring again, even when I am on my side. So I need to address this. I am not gross by any means, 17st3 and 6"1' but have expanded out to 38" waist from my normal 34" and I have developed some fat around my neck. I need to lose it.
 
Somnambulist said:
The carbohydrate insulin model proposed by Taubes, Ludwig, Attia etc as the reason for obesity repeatedly fails in randomised control trials, even those designed by proponents of the diet. Been around years now and the direct evidence for it = *tumbleweed*

Good series on the insulin boogeyman by James Krieger here:
INSULIN…AN UNDESERVED BAD REPUTATION
Insulin...Still an Undeserved Bad Reputation After 10 Years
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Many thanks for posting, I shall investigate that.
 
Whenever people are asked to label those evil carbohydrate foods, they're nearly always things that also contain a load of fat and that are calorie dense. The combination of sweet and fatty you get with a lot of highly processed food as well as the texture (neither of which are found in nature) is hyper-palatable meaning it's very easy to eat for pleasure more so than hunger and consequently over-eat. A good book on this is The Hungry Brain by Stephen Guyenet PhD.

In the 80's and 90's low fat diets were all the rage. In the 00's and 10's low carb ones have been all the rage. I'm waiting for protein to get demonised in the 20's and 30's. People still getting fatter. UK stats are no different.

Carbs-vs.-obesity.jpg

from his article post-debating (aka getting shouted over by) Taubes on the JRE
 
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Somnambulist said:
In the 80's and 90's low fat diets were all the rage. In the 00's and 10's low carb ones have been all the rage. I'm waiting for protein to get demonised in the 20's and 30's. People still getting fatter. UK stats are no different.
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I think it's the fact that a lot of carbs can be found in nutritionally hollow foods/ drinks. So you're not actually satisfying hunger, and they're salty/sweet and moreish so you eat so much more. You can easily nail an entire tube of pringles, a whole packet of crisps, a pack of jaffa cakes or biscuits you know, but try that with a 500g steak and you'll be in pieces (probably not for me lol but I'd at least be full). I like my carbs, and they're needed, I so think it's just an education on balance of what is in things too and the impact that has on pure cal in vs. out. Drink 10 pints on a sat night, grab a kebab and you're on about 3500 from that alone. Fine if you're active and spend your time balancing that with burning calories but most don't.
At the same time, making sure we understand which foods help us fuel our body; fat isn't making us fat, but it's a **** ton more calorie dense and will fill you up and can be used as an energy store. Protein is needed for our body, but too much will turn to fat (same with fat or carbs, they're just used differently for energy), and we need to drink more fluids. Water consumption should be far higher for a well functioning body than most people drink.
 
So I'm still relatively new around here but I've been on the weightloss train since around May last year. I started out in December '19 at 5'4" and 114kg and by May without doing a single change I made it to 111.1kg, I was in a bad way with work and some life changing events that went on the years previous and didn't handle it too well. I don't take photos too often so when the missus took some photos of me at a BBQ I questioned what had happened, I've never been slim but I've never been that bad. I started out like many, walking and counting calories and the first few months were pretty painful both physically and mentally. A lot had to change and I didn't really know what I was doing but over time, the routine kicked in and I started walking more and more(up to around 5 miles a day, I have a WFH IT job these days). Fast forward a little bit as the routine didn't change too radically and I've shaved off ~46kg and I'm hovering around 65kg but I've stopped tracking calories now so it goes up and down from week to week.

As the world gets back to speed I'm starting to let go a little bit more and have done a couple of proper nights out with work and mates but have managed to maintain my general downward trajectory, it's still a learning experience and I would like to properly train as coming down from that kind of weight has left some issues with the ol' skin suit that while I know won't get completely fixed with training can at least be improved. Another step in the learning curve.
 
My weight loss has plateaued hard. I am probably eating too much again and despite cycling 5-10 hours a week - I don't really get much of a sweat unless it's hilly, long or very fast.

Supplemented some of this by getting back into VR - that has me dripping and feeling like I have actually done something fairly quickly (especially in Beat Saber and Pistol Whip).

Also just started weights :o at home, 20 minute session with dumbbells working the upper body. Hopefully between all 3, should help me get back on track and find a way under 90kg.
 
I’m going for it from tomorrow. Cut down on booze completely the past two weeks so sorting the diet from tomorrow. Wife works 12-13 hour days so trying to think of good food she can take with her.
 
randomshenans said:
I think it's the fact that a lot of carbs can be found in nutritionally hollow foods/ drinks. So you're not actually satisfying hunger, and they're salty/sweet and moreish so you eat so much more. You can easily nail an entire tube of pringles, a whole packet of crisps, a pack of jaffa cakes or biscuits you know, but try that with a 500g steak and you'll be in pieces (probably not for me lol but I'd at least be full). I like my carbs, and they're needed, I so think it's just an education on balance of what is in things too and the impact that has on pure cal in vs. out. Drink 10 pints on a sat night, grab a kebab and you're on about 3500 from that alone. Fine if you're active and spend your time balancing that with burning calories but most don't.
At the same time, making sure we understand which foods help us fuel our body; fat isn't making us fat, but it's a **** ton more calorie dense and will fill you up and can be used as an energy store. Protein is needed for our body, but too much will turn to fat (same with fat or carbs, they're just used differently for energy), and we need to drink more fluids. Water consumption should be far higher for a well functioning body than most people drink.
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Definitely with drinks and boozing alcohol sugars, but a lot of the nutritionally devoid ultra-processed foods are high in fat too. Let’s take that 200g tube of Sour Cream Pringles someone just inhales absentmindedly: 102g of carbs (408kcal), 64g of fat (576kcal), 8g of protein (32kcal). Pizzas might have a lot of bread and added sugars but there’s all that cheese, oil and greasy meat on top of that. Diets that revolve around food like that make it almost impossible to not pack on weight over time. Conversely you don’t tend to find in the obese that the cause of their caloric excess is too much fruit or oats.

Where I’d agree is that if your diet mostly consists of whole or minimally processed foods then carb intake is the easiest thing to manipulate. For someone needing to lose weight, just switching to that sort of diet might get things moving by virtue of eating less due to satiety, then over time if they need to reduce calories it’s easy to make some substitutions, reduce serving size of something etc.
 
Well i'm back home now and ready to start sorting my **** out. My main motivations aren't so much around looks but around pure weight loss to assist with long distance running and hills. >30 mile runs at over 100kg can't be good for my joints and requires a lot more effort/food intake vs someone at a lower weight.

I don't feel like i overate when i was over there and a lot was fairly healthy as my mum eats pretty well anyway so lots of bbq'd meats and salads mainly when eating at home. Although that was supplemented with a lot of baguettes as it's always delicious out there when fresh.

The main downside as is the case of most holidays is the alcohol. I'd often drink beers and at least one bottle of red wine a day. As a result i weighed myself this morning and was 108.5kg. I imagine a chunk of that will drop off quickly now i'm home and being a bit more sensible (plus i feel i need the mother of all poos!)

The biggest downside is that i went over on my ankle whilst running over there and have sprained it pretty badly. That means that for a few weeks at least i'm going to be pretty immobile which means i'll have to be extra careful around diet to ensure things don't continue to increase as i normally control a bad diet with running/cycling.

As such i'm being realistic in any reduction for a while and not going to be too disheartened if things don't go down as much as i'd like.
 
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